Cooper, Charles 'Tarzan'
1907-1980 · Contribution: 1932-1936
Basketball player
Star center for the New York Renaissance during their 88-game winning streak and 1932-36 dominant run

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1907, Newark, Delaware
- Active since
- 1929
- Category
- Sports & Athletics
- Best known for
- Star center of the New York Renaissance
Impact on the world
Cooper was the cornerstone of the greatest team of the Black Fives era, whose dominance made the case that Black players belonged at the highest level of the game.
An alternative history
What Would the World Look Like Without It?
One contribution. Many possible consequences. No single-person origin story.
Imagine this selected contribution absent, not the person or the entire field. The areas below are reflection prompts related to this discipline, not verified chains of direct dependency.
Sources
- Source lookupFind
Black Fives Foundation
Exact source links open the cited record. Source lookups help locate legacy references whose original records did not include a direct URL.
2 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Douglas, Robert 'Bob'
unknown-1979
Founded the New York Renaissance, the first Black-owned, all-Black, fully professional basketball team in history
Gates, William 'Pop'
1917-1999
Star forward for the New York Renaissance and Harlem Globetrotters during the Black Fives era
Isaacs, John 'Boy Wonder'
1918-2009
Credited with bringing the pick-and-roll play to professional basketball
Cooper, Chuck
1926-1984
First African American drafted into the NBA